A SECOND inquest into the death of a single mother of two who was found hanging in a jail cell heard she was a depressed heroin addict whose life was "a mess".

Sheena Creamer, 22, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was found dead at New Hall prison at Flockton in August 2000 while on remand for an offence of dishonesty.

A suicide verdict from an inquest held in 2001 was quashed in March 2004 in a landmark House of Lords ruling as it was felt the jury had not been given the opportunity to identify the causes of her suicide and make recommendations for how such cases could be avoided in the future.

The new inquest, in front of coroner Stanley Hooper, was also ordered.

Ms Creamer's mother, Helen Sacker, said she was told her daughter used a shower curtain to hang herself in her cell on the prison's C-wing in the early hours of August 7.

She said: "I find it difficult to believe she has hanged herself in this manner."

In a statement read to Doncaster Coroner's Court, Ms Creamer said she had not spoken to her daughter, who had two girls of her own aged five and seven at the time, for several months before her death.

But she said her daughter's fellow inmates said she had been laughing and joking prior to lock-up on the evening of August 6, 2000.

Jane Clayton, a custody officer at Sheffield Magistrates' Court, had raised concerns about Ms Creamer's health only two days earlier when she was brought from the prison for a hearing.

The inquest jury of six men and six women heard Mrs Clayton knew Ms Creamer as she was a habitual offender with whom she had had frequent contact.

Mrs Clayton said Ms Creamer appeared "very depressed" when she was remanded in custody at the court on August 4, 2000.

She told the inquest Ms Creamer had said she was withdrawing from heroin after being in prison for a week and did not want to return to New Hall.

"She did at one point, when the bench had retired, tell me that if she went back to New Hall, she would kill herself."

Mrs Clayton opened a "self-harm" form on Ms Creamer, which would accompany her back to the prison, in which she noted: "DP (detained person) seems very depressed. Says if she goes back to prison today she will do herself in. Very tearful in court. Had to be forcefully removed from dock."

She told the inquest that Ms Creamer thought she would lose her council accommodation if she was remanded, was worried about her children, and had said she had nothing left and her life was "a mess".

The inquest also heard Ms Creamer begged Mrs Clayton to take her off the form as she knew it meant her movements would be watched closely.